This will do well and
fully deserves to. Although the circumstances
that kept most Lyrita originals out
of the CD catalogue since 1983 remain
a matter of historical frustration the
fact is that the long delay has simply
intensified the market. The log-jam
is now cleared and appetite-whetted
sales in a market dry for these long
hidden recordings deserve to be phenomenal.

The bass amplitude
is phenomenal in the Sinfonietta.
Listen to 7:31 in the middle movement.
Despite the age of the tape there is
no trace of pre-echo or print-through
on the startlingly imperious rushed
opening of the last movement; neither
is there an unearthly silence. That
hushed pizzicato 1:10-1:34 in the finale
is the most sumptuous ever. Ending with
the burbling string crescendo. All very
immediate, lapel-grabbing and gorgeously
larger than life.

Then we move to the
Symphony which is recorded in much broader
and deeper ambient conditions. It is
resplendently lively, resonant with
detail and full-lipped in romantic address.
Lissom woodwind voices reach out to
seduce the listener. There is also a
chesty grunt to the many active ostinati
including those set aggressively running
in the first movement. The woody tone
of the double basses at 8:23 in the
first movement positively groans with
character. Those squat and fruity French
Horns providing a prominent contralto
boost to the shattering chords that
explosively punctuate the exuberant
close of the first movement. You will
look in vain for quite the same splendour
in the other versions – and that applies
also to the Heward reborn in Pristine’s
historic reanimation on Divine Art.
Much the same applies to the marine
swell and cross-currents of the second
movement at 6:32 onwards with its rapturous
harp and woodwind slashes (7:42 onwards)
running through the swathed texture
of the strings. Boult takes the scherzo
(III) at daredevil speed but is matched
by the NPO’s oboist. Then at 3:05 there
is one of the most magical passages
in all classical music where the harp
and French horn and flute and pizzicato
strings serenade – it is not quite as
effective as Neville Dilkes’ unfairly
derided EMI Classics recording given
that the pace of Boult’s scherzo, while
full of exhilaration, is too fast for
my complete liking. The French horns
at 4:20-4:35 in the finale are every
bit as good as LP stalwarts will have
recalled or imagined in their best dreams
– not a scintilla of distortion just
the glorious burred and rolling roar
of the breakers. The irresistible trudge
of the strings as we move into the section
so clearly influenced by Sibelius’s
Tapiola at 7:20 forward is also
notable.

Never mind Boult’s
Elgar this recording shows Boult at
his most stirringly impressive. This
is his finest recording in much the
same way as Groves EMI recording of
Bliss’s Morning Heroes is Groves’
finest – his testament. Both Lloyd-Jones
and Handley come close but cannot displace
this version of the Symphony; it bears
the crown with eager majesty. Of course
the Pristine-Divine Art version has
great historic significance catching
the conductor of the premiere only a
handful of years after the first performance.
And in the case of this version making
the thorny 78s sound better than ever.

One oddity now removed
in the case of this Lyrita disc: on
the LP the orchestra was named as the
New Philharmonia Orchestra of London.
The words of London have now
been removed.

The Overture for
a Masque is as explosive and recorded
as grippingly as the Sinfonietta
– a work with which it shares a youthful
optimistic spirit. Its jocund, effervescent
and romantic high spirits place it with
Randall Thompson’s Second Symphony and
Copland’s Outdoor Overture.

The March 2007 issues
from this label include SRCD.248 Moeran
Rhapsody no.2; Violin Concerto;
Rhapsody in F sharp for piano and orchestra
(LPO/Boult, Georgiadis/LSO/Handley and
McCabe/New Philharmonia/Braithwaite).

The notes are taken
from the original LP sleeves: Michael
Williamson, Geoffrey Crankshaw and Frank
Howes.

The CD cover holds
firm to the Lyrita virtues of victory
in simplicity and forthright sincerity.
There is however nothing Spartan about
these majestic recordings. Shout it
from the rooftops!
Rob Barnett

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